Wrestling

UW Wrestlers Handle the Cowboy DualsThe Cowboys next face Northern Colorado in Greeley on January 22.

Wyoming's Bryce Leonhardt was named Outstanding Wrestler at 125 pounds for the Cowboy Duals.

Jan. 18, 2003

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

The University of Wyoming wrestling
team won all three of its matches Saturday at the Cowboy Duals in the
Multipurpose Gym in Laramie, Wyo. The Pokes picked up dual wins over
Northwest Wyoming College 32-15, Colorado School of Mines 33-6 and Montana
State Northern 21-16 to go undefeated on the day.

In the first session the Cowboys were tested by the Trappers of Northwest
Wyoming College as they fell behind early 3-0 when 125 pounder Kendall
Horrock of Northwest Wyoming defeated Josh Geary of Wyoming 9-6. UW would
tie the score at 3 a piece after the 133 pound match when freshman Tyson
Shatto defeated Justin Bradley 9-5. In the 141 pound match junior Blake
Gunter put the Cowboys in the lead 6-3 with a 6-4 decision over Eric Sabot.
Luke Salazar, who is ranked nationally in NJCAA, gave the lead back to
Northwest Wyoming as he pinned senior Thad Trujillo in the 149 pound match,
5:31, to make the score 9-6. Junior Andrew Shuler handled Cort Peterson by
scoring 21 points on route to a technical fall in the 157 pound match,
making the score 11-9 in favor of the Cowboys. In the 165 pound match junior
Trevor Murray won his only match of the day recording a technical fall over
Bobby Singleton, Murray did not give up a single point in the match winning
15-0. Sophomore Justin Salas had not wrestled in over a month due to a
nagging injury but that did not stop him from recording a major decision
over Joe Woods 12-4 to give the Pokes a 20-9 lead. The Trappers would come
back in the 184 match when Carson Kleinfeldt pinned Cowboy freshman Sam
Wendland at the 3:44 mark to cut the Cowboy lead to 20-15. The Cowboys would
be to much for the Trappers in the next two matches as junior Kevin Kessner
pinned Austin Hess in the first period of the 197 pound match and senior
heavyweight Brad Steele pinned Tyler Rhodes in the second period after not
scoring a single point in the first period.

The Cowboys would have no trouble in the second session as the faced the
Colorado School of Mines. The Pokes won eight out of ten matches against the
Orediggers and cruised to a 33-6 victory. Freshman Bryce Leonhardt got the
Cowboys on the right track with a 4-1 victory over David Lee in the 125
pound match. Tyson Shatto won his second match of the day by defeating
Stephen Lopez 10-3 at 133 pounds. Blake Gunter followed suit by recording a
technical fall in his 141 pound match against Lincoln Thomas. Thad Trujillo
earned his first victory of the day with a 5-1 decision over Brian Kinsella
in the 149 pound match for the Pokes. In the 157 pound match Andrew Shuler
held on for a 10-8 victory against Peter Jenson to record his second victory
of the day. Junior Levi Prevost won his first match of the day in the 165
weight class by handling Greg Chirieleison 10-2 and recording a major
decision. Justin Salas didn't need much time to take care of Jeremy Pollock
as he recorded a pin in the 174 pound match in only 2:28 seconds into the
match. The score was already 27-0 in favor of the Cowboys before the
Orediggers would get on the board. Mark Dubrovich out scored Sam Wendland
6-2 in the 184 pound match to make the score 27-3. In the heavyweight match
Cowboy freshman Drew Severn battled Chuck Halstead to a 3-3 tie at the end
of the third period. In sudden victory Severn looked to have the match won
but couldn't complete the takedown and Halstead would go on to win by a
final score of 5-3. The Orediggers forfeited the 197 pound match making the
final score 33-6.

The Montana State-Northern Lights were the Cowboys next opponent in session
three. MSU-Northern, currently ranked number one in the nation in NAIA,
would be the Pokes toughest test on the day as the dual would not be decided
until the last match. 125 pounder Bryce Leonhardt recorded his second
victory of the day to start the dual defeating Andy Thompson 2-1, all three
match points were recorded in the final period. MSU-Northern took a 6-3 lead
when Caleb Schaeffer pinned Tyson Shatto in the 133 pound match. At 141
pounds Blake Gunter recorded his third victory of the day by defeating
Anthony Haukenberry 5-2, making the score a 6-6 tie. 149 pounder Dustyn
Azure defeated Cowboy Thad Trujillo 8-6 to put MSU-Northern on top of the
Pokes 9-6. Andrew Shuler would answer back for UW by recording his third win
of the day with 10-6 decision over Bobby Mantle in the 157 pound match. Levi
Prevost, currently ranked 10th in the nation at 165 pounds, would add to the
Cowboy lead pinning Aaron Jensen 1:07 into the match making the score 15-9
for the Pokes. Justin Salas earned his third victory of the day with a 12-6
decision over Kyle Fisher helping the Pokes take control of the dual going
into the last three matches. In the 184 pound match Mike Lester outlasted
Sam Wendland 12-6, pulling his team closer to a possible victory. Emmett
Wilson cut the score to 18-16 when he blanked Kevin Kessner 9-0 in the 197
pound match. In the final match of the day senior heavyweight Brad Steele
would give the Pokes their third dual victory when he defeated Matt Carter
7-6. The match was tied 6-6 with only a minute remaining when Steele managed
to record enough riding time to earn the decisive single point for the win
making the final score 21-16 in favor of the Pokes.

"Overall I don't think we wrestled very well," said UW head wrestling coach
Steven Suder. "I thought our guys looked flat, and our guys who usually
wrestle with a lot of emotion didn't seem to have it today. Maybe are
weekend off had something to do with it but we have been working hard and
today was a very tough day for us. Montana State-Northern is a very good
team we had to battle to the very end to earn that one but I think we need
to be wrestling with some more emotion if we are going to get better."

The Cowboys are back in action on Jan. 22nd when they face Northern
Colorado in Greeley, Colo. at 7 p.m.